Global Warming and Greenhouse Effects

As the sun’s rays warms the Earth’s surface and oceans during the day, the earth’s surface and waters can no longer cool down in the evening. The heat should ideally, radiate back into the upper atmosphere and space, allowing the earth and oceans to cool down again. The carbon emissions. methane and evaporated water which also rise into the upper atmosphere and space, form an insulation blanket trapping the heat which keeps the earth’s surface and waters warmer than they should be.Global warming increases the adverse adverse effects of climate change. They include food production, animal and wildlife life cycles, animal migratory patterns and our ability to rely on earth’s natural resources for sustaining life. This problem gets worse with population growth because population growth means we must clear more land and remove our natural carbon sequestration sponges (forests, trees and plants) to make way for urbanisation and industrial growth.

Enhanced greenhouse effect

Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas), agriculture and land clearing are increasing the concentrations of greenhouse gases. This is the enhanced greenhouse effect which warms the Earth surface above the normal. Over the last century or more, burning coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). This happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO2. The clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and urbanization increases concentrations of Carbon Emissions and other greenhouse gases too because trees, forestry and plants when cut down, release the stored carbon back into the atmosphere. Further consequences are that evaporation and rainfall patterns change. This affects agricultural watering, harvests, farming output, food production and soil fertility. We overcome soil fertility and soil degradation by using man made chemical fertilisers, which in turn seep through into the water tables and destroy marine life, water quality and marine life cycles.

Food production and food security

Degrading farming soil and the consequential crop losses affect food security (availability) and farming income, which in turn increases food prices and reduces employment and socio-economic opportunities. Therefore, climate change and global warming together with the need to feed, house and employ rising populations gives rise the the principles of Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Development. We can adapt to climate change and global warming by changing the way we manage land, produce food and use water. We must adapt to climate change and global warming through innovation and changes in the way we deal with business, agriculture, education, social and cultural norms.